Belgium

In January 2012 the penetration rate of fixed broadband is 32.4 % of the population and it is above the EU average of 27.7%. Belgium has 69.2% of fixed lines providing speeds of 10 Mbps and above, 28.5% of lines providing speeds between 30Mbps and below 100Mbps and 1.5% of fixed lines providing speeds equal or above 100 Mbps. Mobile broadband penetration is 19.1%, but lags behind many countries in the EU. In 2011 78% of the population use the internet regularly and 14% of citizens have never used the internet, a reduction of 3 p.p. since 2010. Take-up of eCommerce is at EU average, with 43% of the population buying online, up 5 p.p. since 2010. 21.9% of businesses and 21.5% of SMEs sold online.Usage of eGovernment services by citizens in Belgium shows a slight increase with respect to 2010, going from 45% to 47%, above EU27 average. Use of online public services by businesses has increased by 11 pp to 88%.The share of ICT in total BERD is low average, at just around 15%, and public support for ICT R&D was around 11% of total public funding for R&D.